Lilly’s Game – Look inside

The Turned Gods – Character Companion Novella

This was exactly what Lilly had imagined a black site interrogation chamber would look like: cold concrete, no windows, shitty lighting. Static noise assaulted her ears from headphones strapped in place. She still couldn’t figure out how the hell they had caught her. She twisted as much as the bindings would allow, cracking her neck. Her head throbbed dully, and her senses were clouded. She was both pissed and confused.

She could feel crusted blood on her mouth, from biting through her lip when her face hit the ground. They got her with something good. Blinking through her clouded vision, Lilly wondered how long she had been bound to the cold metal chair. She pulled against carbon fiber ankle straps, leg straps, one across her waist, another across her chest, with no sign of give.

“Shit!” she exclaimed as shackles bit deep into her wrist when she tried to wipe her mouth. Fresh blood dripped onto the table in front of her. Each hand had been chained far enough apart she couldn’t make them touch. The chair and table were unmovable, anchored into the concrete floor. The only weak spot she could see was the door and nobody in their right mind could say that was weak. Steel covered the exterior, with no internal handle or hinges. No control pads. No visible way out. There weren’t any viewing mirrors, but someone was clearly watching her. You didn’t leave a girl like Lilly unattended even if she was restrained. Whoever it was, they certainly weren’t playing around. Even she wouldn’t be able to get out of this mess on wits alone.

She should have known the money was too good to be true. It made her look past the risk. After all, no one had ever even come close to catching her before. Much less, blindside her the way these people had. She still had no idea where she had gone wrong. Her brain was moving too slowly to be accurate which was most frustrating as she tried to go through every step. She had used multiple proxies, ran through back servers, no alarms, no breadcrumbs. File download was flawless. She hadn’t even signed this hack. The job specs had come through an alias profile on the dark web. Neither hers, nor the buyer’s identities were traceable. Even her internet connection was a masked IP over a citywide, public network.

“Somebody want to tell me what the hell is going on here?!” she yelled out aggressively.

A guard joked to his partner as they watched the monitor at the other end of a long hallway. “We’ll be right in, sweetheart.”

The door opened behind the two men while they were still laughing. A tall, slender woman with short, dark hair entered the room. Her eyes were cold, nearly as black as her hair. Her cheekbones sat high, smoothly sliding into a slender jawline carrying full lips. She was a classic, Italian beauty, dressed in a light pink fitted designer suit. Under the suit jacket was a crisp white, high-collar shirt buttoned to the top. She wore dark pink pumps and carried a leather satchel dyed in the same hue as her outfit. She tossed the bag on the end of the table beside the guard on the right. Standing behind the men, she leaned forward, resting one hand on the back of each chair.

“You think that might be a little overkill?” she said in a cold tone. It wasn’t meant to be a question.

“No,” said the man on the right. “You didn’t see how many darts we had to hit her with to take her down.” His tone was condescending, and she immediately dubbed him ‘Jackass One.’

The second man in the room glanced at the woman dismissively. “I thought he was sending Grace.” His attitude earned him the moniker of ‘Jackass Two.’

“Grace is a little busy. You got me. Is there a problem with that?” Vivienne didn’t want to be there any more than they wanted her there. She was in the middle of planning a wedding and a turning, straddled between two planets. She didn’t have time to waste on this. Ivan had to think it was important. He didn’t ask favors often, so when the Regent asked you to do something, you dropped everything and went.

“No, ma’am. No problem,” Jackass Two answered. What could Ivan have been thinking of sending someone barely over one hundred to face off with a devious and manipulative deserter, possessing nearly a thousand years of experience over Vivienne?

Many vampires still held animosity toward Lilly and a few others. After the vampire exterminations, the community was left scattered and crippled. At a time when they needed to come together to survive, Lilly and some others had abandoned them. She isolated herself, lived alone on the fringes, neither in the vampire world, nor the human one. And now, if word of what she had done were to get out, some of those within the community would be calling for her life. Maybe that was entirely the reason Ivan had sent Vivienne. Vivienne hadn’t been alive for the near extinction. She harbored no animosity toward this woman and was empathetic without being emotional. She was pragmatic, unhindered by feelings of resentment.

Vivienne studied the girl on the monitor. Lilly was a bit under average height for a female. Average, slender build for a young woman from the time she was turned. The oversized clothing she wore did its job hiding her figure. Her hair was dyed black, braided down both sides of her head. It was difficult to tell what her exact ethnicity was. She looked like a mix of Asian and European, possibly a Pacific Islander. Her eyes were more rounded than almond shaped. Her skin, a light tan color and flawless except for the current wounds. She looked like a scared, defensive child. Had she even been of turning age? She couldn’t have been much older than sixteen at the time.

“I didn’t expect her to be so …” Vivienne trailed off.

“Young?” Jackass One snorted.

“Delicate.” Vivienne shot him a hard look.

“Don’t let her innocent looks deceive you. She’s as feral as they come. It took five darts to take her down and she still managed to break my arm,” Jackass Two added.

“I think I’d act like a wild animal too if someone had come after me like that.” Vivienne wasn’t interested in their opinions. “You were supposed to bring her in quietly.”

She pulled a laptop, a large metal water bottle, and a small flash style device out of her bag. When she turned to leave the room, Jackass One got up and reached for the doorknob. Vivienne placed her hand against the door and held it shut. She turned her head, looking at the guard over her shoulder.

“Thank you, but I should go on my own. I’ll get more out of her if she doesn’t feel threatened.”

“I’m not so sure Ivan would want us to leave you alone in there with her.”

“I think Ivan sent me because he trusts my judgment. I mean, that’s assuming he didn’t ask you to talk to her first. Did he? I mean, I’m sure he explained what was going on to you before he called me, right? … No?” Vivienne could be cutting when she was irritated and everything about this situation irritated her. She also wasn’t a fan of having her authority challenged.

Jackass One scoffed at her, releasing the doorknob. “Well then … if that’s how you want it. Just scream if you need anything. We’ll try to make it in there before she bleeds you out.”

Vivienne yanked the door open, mumbling under her breath as she walked down the hall. “I’m sure you’ll be in right quick, won’t you?” Those two would be more than happy to have an excuse to kill Lilly, even if it meant Vivienne being critically injured.

Lilly looked up when the door opened. Aw, shit, she thought, as the familiar low vibration of being near another vampire coursed through her. It would have been so much better if it had been humans that caught her. Why were vampires coming after her? She tried to stay off their radar. She hadn’t interacted with more than a handful of them in centuries. Most of the ones she did have contact with were like her, on the fringes.

“It took you long enough,” Lilly sneered.

Vivienne saw the look of disdain on Lilly’s face. She crossed the room, pulling Lilly’s headphones off before she placed her hand on the wall, activating a digital panel to turn off the cameras and the sound. She tossed the laptop and flash device onto the table, knowing it would get Lilly’s attention; curiosity would hold it.

“Awesome. Here I am trussed up like a calf at a cattle roping competition and lucky me I get stuck with ditsy in pink for an interrogator.”

“If you think you could behave yourself long enough to have an adult conversation, I’ll remove the shackles from your wrists.”

“And if I can’t?” she smirked.

Vivienne walked around to sit in the chair across from Lilly. She folded her hands on the table in front of her and stared blankly into Lilly’s unwavering eyes. It was a power move. Vivienne could sit there all day. The girl would now need to ask to be let loose. Vivienne wouldn’t make the offer again, but she hadn’t rescinded it either.

Lilly did want the shackles off. Her choices were either give in and ask to be released or continue to be a stubborn ass and remain restrained. Stuff my fucking pride, she thought to herself. It’s not like it had ever done her any good before. What was Ditsy going to do to her anyway? Brush her hair? She looked like the hardest day she’d ever had was a catastrophic broken nail.

Lilly cleared her throat. “I would appreciate having the shackles removed.” She smiled clenching her jaw like the words tasted bitter. “Pleeease,” she added. “I would also appreciate knowing why, exactly, am I here?”

Vivienne rose silently walking back to the panel to unlock Lilly’s hands. Lilly rubbed her wrists, feeling the small cuts and bruises heal themselves. Vivienne crossed back around the table taking her seat again.

“Let’s start with something a little simpler. I am Vivienne. Would you like a drink?” Vivienne opened the water bottle, tipping it toward Lilly.

Lilly sniffed. It wasn’t blood. It wasn’t water either. It smelled heavy, metallic, like food. “You first,” she answered distrustfully.

Vivienne took a swig passing the bottle back to Lilly. She took a tentative sip swirling it around her mouth before swallowing. Then she downed the rest of the bottle. The cool liquid felt soothing on her swollen throat and tongue.

“What is this?” Lilly asked. It was probably a question she should have considered before downing the entire bottle.

“CB. Oh Lilly, don’t tell me you’re still drinking human blood. You have no idea how far our technology has come in the last half century, do you?” Vivienne could tell Lilly was proud of being smart. She wanted to make her feel stupid, like she was being left behind the rest of her race. Although she had done her research, Vivienne didn’t know Lilly’s story, other than early on she flitted from clan to clan, not sticking around long enough to gain attachments. The last few hundred years, she was totally isolated. No one knew Lilly’s background or sire line.

Lilly curled her lip and clenched her jaw. Was this woman toying with her? She’d heard rumors for the last century about creating a blood replacement. Had they finally done it or was this some kind of trick?

“I don’t kill humans,” Lilly snarled, hardening her features. Except for that once, before I understood. The guilt riddled thought smoldered at the back of her mind. She locked eyes with Vivienne.

Vivienne didn’t break eye contact, though she did backpedal slightly.

“I didn’t accuse you of being a murderer. I accused you of being disengaged from the community.” She pulled a card out of the inside pocket of her blazer and slid it across the table. “Here. CB is free to all vampires. Call that number anytime and it will be delivered to you wherever you are. You never need to worry how to quench your thirst or being caught for doing so.”

Lilly scanned the room, landing her eyes back on Vivienne. “That’s so helpful to me in here,” she replied doubting she would ever be leaving this room. “Nothing is really free, Vivienne. What’s the catch?” Lilly was suspicious. Years on the outside had made her cynical.

“The only tradeoff is you don’t kill humans. Since you say you don’t anyway, then for you it is free, isn’t it?” Vivienne took a breath. She didn’t want to appear angry. This woman didn’t trust them. She didn’t trust any authority. Whether Lilly had reason or not, Vivienne needed to keep her open and talking. “We don’t want attention drawn toward the community. We don’t want humans to start hunting us again, not even you. You are still part of this community whether you believe you are or not. You put yourself on the outside. We didn’t do that to you.”

“Yeah, if that’s true, then why am I sitting here tied to a chair?”

“Because you’ve done something that could cause us harm. And I don’t think you’d have come to answer questions if we’d have said ‘pretty please’.”

“So, you’re the one who put me in this chair?” Lilly asked snidely.

“No, I’m not the one who put you there. I’m the one who can let you out.” Vivienne matched Lilly’s tone.

Lilly leaned her head to one side. “Hm, so, you drew the short straw.”

“It appears so.”

“Well then, let’s get on with it. How do I earn my way out?” Lilly slouched as much as she could, slinging one arm over the back of her chair.

“Who hired you to get the list? Why would you come after that?” Vivienne leaned back, relaxing her stiff posture slightly.

“Who? No idea. I don’t work for a ‘who.’ I work for a ‘what.’ And the ‘what’ is money. I don’t care who they are; I don’t care what they want. If they can pay, I get it.” Lilly shrugged.

“What if it’s something they shouldn’t have?”

“Who are you to say what someone should or shouldn’t have?” Lilly leaned forward folding her arms. Her lips curled. Vivienne had struck a nerve.

“What if it’s a list of every vampire on the planet including you? Worried about who should and shouldn’t have that?” Vivienne leaned forward again, with cold eyes and an unflinching face.

Lilly deflated. “Fuck.”

“Good thing you weren’t able to complete the hack,” Vivienne said calmly.

“I did complete the hack. I downloaded the file.” Lilly’s attitude hadn’t diminished.

“Mmm.” Vivienne made a small facial shrug. “You downloaded a file. Do you think we’re stupid enough to leave the real list on a network server?”

Lilly swiftly went from smug to irritated. “If it wasn’t the file, what am I doing here?”

“Because when whoever got those names starts killing people and realizes they’re just regular humans, guess who they’re coming after next?”

“Isn’t that rich. You put out a list of innocent humans to be murdered and because you didn’t kill them yourself it’s supposed to be okay? And then you justify using me as bait to catch the humans killing them, thinking they’re us? Why didn’t you just make it harder to get the list?” Lilly’s irritation was turning to anger.

“Would you have stopped? Would another hacker have stopped? It was a challenge. It was a game for you. And the people on that list are far from innocent.”

“Judge and jury now, are you?”

“I’m not the one who set this all into motion. Most of the names on that list are fictitious. Some are deceased. Some are names our people have used in past lives. A few,” Vivienne leaned forward, “are active serial killers that will never be caught because they go from country to country, killing one or two before moving on. Human authorities will not connect the dots, because they don’t talk to each other. We consider it a public service.”

“Oh, so they are vampires then.” Lilly jeered at Vivienne, disgusted at her apparent justification, protecting an entire race of killers by giving up a few human ones.

“No, Lilly. They’re monsters. When our race used to kill, before we realized we could feed without taking a life, it was for food. These humans kill each other for pleasure. One human on the list keeps a finger from each child he rapes and murders. Another, kidnaps their victims, torturing them for months before eventually starving them to death. Do you know what a horrible death starvation is? Let’s not take into consideration the broken bones, or hooks through their skin …”

Lilly cut her off, raising her hands in front of her. “That’s enough. I get your point. What do you want from me?”

“From where I’m sitting Lilly, this has two ways it can go. Either you can be seen as the one who sold us out or you can be the one helping us find whoever is hunting us down. Your choice.”

“I didn’t sell us out,” Lilly defended.

“You didn’t know you weren’t selling us out when you stole the list. It’s about perception anyway, not facts, isn’t it? Are you going to help or not?”

“What happens if I don’t?”

“Nothing. If you don’t want to help, we’re not going force you. We let you go. People die. Your new friends come to find you. We didn’t have to pick you up at all, Lilly. We could have let this play out. You never would have known they were coming for you. We haven’t lost anything out of this exchange.” Vivienne stood up and walked around behind Lilly making a gesture on the wall panel releasing the rest of her restraints.

“All we need is for you to get us to the place where you found whoever it was that hired you. We’ll do the rest. Or you can get up and walk out of here.” Vivienne shoved the laptop in front of Lilly, then went back to her seat. She hoped the illusion of being in control would be enough to keep Lilly from coming after her across the table. She was relying on her instinct that Lilly didn’t want to hurt her. If she had wanted to, there would be nothing Vivienne could do about it. She knew she was outmatched in both speed and strength.